Professor Ibrahim Gambari and June 12: The “un-disgraced” collaborator
By
Sowore
Omoyele
omoyele_sowore@yahoo.com
If the Abacha repressive regime were a soccer team, Professor Ibrahim
Gambari would be one of the “1st eleven players” or at least a
quarter back on the reserve bench in the government squad. Though Abacha
didn’t play soccer, he certainly sat on a killer squad that faced down
members of the opposition-all lovers of democracy, and ordinary Nigerians
in and out of Nigeria-while his bestial reign lasted, in addition to
Abacha Professor Gambari has served almost all the dictators that has
scorched the piece of earth known as Nigeria.
Professor
Ibrahim Gambari, who some people claim is an intelligent man, used his
‘intelligence’ to defend the draconian policies of the Abacha regime while
he was
Nigeria’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations. He was one of
Abacha’s equivalents of the “goebel” representing the infamous dictator
with vigor and a propensity that could only be found in fascist Italy of
old. He was once quoted as saying, “Nigerians don’t need democracy because
democracy is not food. It is not their priority now.” As more pressure
mounted on the Abacha regime from all corners of the world, Professor
Gambari became more notorious and ruthless in defending and deflecting
attacks against the Abacha dictatorship.
I remember
his many appearances on cable news channels, especially after Abacha
murdered environmentalist and author, Ken Saro-Wiwa following what can be
described as a kangaroo trial. Professor Gambari stoically denied that the
Abacha regime had committed a crime; he labeled Saro-Wiwa a “common
criminal” who had engaged in the murder of some Ogoni elders. It was
Gambari and Tom Ikimi who went all over the world to convince and
blackmail governments of nations opposed to the killing of Saro-Wiwa and
the Ogoni 8. They tried in vain to convince the governments of some
countries, but it was also clear that they might have succeeded in
blackmailing some countries into silence or acquiescence. There are claims
that Professor Ibrahim Gambari had access to the Nigerian treasury; he had
limitless resources to do what ever he wanted in the name of protecting
the Abacha regime, no wonder he was able to pay for the juicy properties
sold by the Federal government in Ikoyi recntly.
After the
demise of Abacha, his other co-dictators and collaborators were put in
their place: Call it the Nigerian Hall of Shame. Professor Ibrahim Gambari
has not been touched; he has not been called to account. Unlike the Usenis,
Mustapha, and Gwarzo, he did not appear before the hapless “Oputa Panel”
to explain his ignominious role. Instead he was elevated by Kofi Annan,
the United Nations Secretary-General, to the position of Under-Secretary
and Special Adviser on
Africa at the UN. The reasons are not far-fetched. Kofi Annan wasn’t too
keen on democratization efforts in Nigeria; he was already in cahoots with
the Abacha regime through his son, Kodjo, who was involved in the oil
business in Nigeria. Kodjo lives a life of opulence in Lagos. There had
been rumors Gambari was the link between Abacha, Annan and their
businesses.
Even after
the death of Abacha, Kofi Annan’s visits to
Nigeria were primarily to prevail on Chief M.K.O Abiola to forget about
his June 12 mandate. He didn’t care about Abiola’s freedom so he quietly
went to meet him in jail and asked him to ‘fuggetabutit.’ It is a known
fact that Prof. Gambari had already briefed Annan adequately about the
“real deal” and shortly after Kofi visited Abiola, Chief Anyaoku followed,
then the Brits and then the Americans and the rest is now painful history.
It is
intriguing that Professor Gambari has now become a darling of so many
Nigerian organizations. Honors are pouring in from everywhere and he is
getting awards and making speeches all over the place. Recently a group
named “World Congress of Afenifere” invited people to come toNewark,
New Jersey to listen to a Gambari lecture. I didn’t know what to think,
except the reminder that even the leader of the Yoruba race, Chief Abraham
Adesanya, was in the company of General Abubakar when he came to
commission the now defunct “AbubakarA. Abdusalami Lecture Series” at the
Chicago State University in 2001. For this program General Abubakar had
committed a lot of money described by the Chicago State University
President, Dr. Elnora Daniel as”largesse”, this he gave from his
ill-gotten wealth. Shortly after the Chicago imbroglio, Dr. Conteh, who
was the brain behind the lecture series was relieved of his plum job at
CSU and the “Abubakar Lecture Series” died a natural death. I am proud to
say I was there at CSU with Lanre Banjo, Pete Sophie, Kayode Oladele,
members of Amnesty International, USA, and many more Nigerians from all
over the United States to protest the
“beautification”
of Abubakar. In the milieu that ensued Abubakar was served a court summons
that accused him of human rights violations, and ever since he has not
been seen parading US universities in search of a dubious legacy and
undeserved honors. The case against Gen. Abubakar has advanced
tremendously at the U.S. Appeals Court, Circuit Seven. The court reached a
decision on the case between Abubakar, Enahoro, and others (case #03-3089
on May 23, 2005). The 31-page decision of the appellate court presided by
Justices Cudahy, Kannes, and Evans concluded that the Abubakar case should
be referred to trial.
For
Professor Ibrahim Gambari, he seems to have escaped justice both locally
and internationally. He can always claim that he was just a diplomat doing
his job. But, since the days of the
Nuremberg trials such arguments no longer hold water.
Professor Gambari is getting bolder by the day, and as such
on June 12, 2005,
Professor Gambari, according to sources at the UN, is going to make a
speech at a weeklong event tagged “Medgar Week” being organized by the
Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York according to the . It is not
clear why the college has not put the information on its website as at
press time. They know all too well that Professor Gambari is to Nigerians
here in the
US, the equivalent of what David Duke (a white supremacist) would mean to
African Americans.
It has
become clear that the day, “June 12” has some sanctity to Nigerians
everywhere in the world. I have no doubt that Medgar Wiley Evers a
committed civil rights leader will be turning in his grave right now,
certainly Abiola must be boiling with rage wherever he is and definitely
the date “June 12” should never be the party day for shenanigans and
collaborators.
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